GUEST MENTOR: DAVID ZIPPEL

Award-winning lyricist and director David Zippel will join the festival as a SPARK Mentor to offer rehearsal feedback, lead post-show discussions and more. His lyrics for the Broadway production of CITY OF ANGELS won him the Tony Award®. In addition, he has received two Academy Award nominations, two Grammy Award® nominations and three Golden Globe Award nominations. His songs appear on over 25 million CDs around the world, and have been recorded by many great singers including Stevie Wonder, Christina Aguilera, Mel Torme, Ricky Martin, Cleo Laine, Barbara Cook and Nancy LaMott.

Mr. Zippel made his Broadway debut with CITY OF ANGELS (music by Cy Coleman, book by Larry Gelbart), for which he received the Tony Award, the New York Drama Critics Circle Award, the Drama Desk Award and (in London) the Olivier Award and Evening Standard Award. In 2015 City of Angels won the Olivier Award for Best Revival. He wrote the lyrics to the Broadway musical THE GOODBYE GIRL (music Marvin Hamlisch, book Neil Simon) for which he received an Outer Critics Circle nomination and which garnered a Tony nomination for Best Musical. With eight-time Oscar winning composer Alan Menken, he wrote the songs for Disney's feature film Hercules. Michael Bolton recorded Go the Distance from that score, which was a #1 record and nominated for an Academy Award and Golden Globe. With Matthew Wilder, he wrote the songs for Disney's animated feature Mulan, which earned him his second Academy Award nomination. "Reflection," from MULAN, was recorded by Christina Aguilera and is featured on her multi-platinum debut album. Christina and David collaborated again with Todd Chapman to write the song "We're A Miracle," which was featured as the end title song for Pokemon: The First Movie, and on its #1 soundtrack album. With Mervyn Warren he wrote the end title for the Jennifer Lopez movie The Wedding Planner. His lyrics for The Swan Princess, an animated feature with music by Lex De Azevedo, were nominated for a Golden Globe Award. With composer Andrew Lloyd Webber, he wrote the songs for the London and Broadway musical THE WOMAN IN WHITE. With Alan Menken, David wrote the acclaimed USO sequence, Star Spangled Man With a Plan for Captain America.

With Liza Minnelli, David wrote the script for Liza's at The Palace, which won a 2010 Tony Award for Best Special Entertainment. The show was recorded for PBS after a run in Las Vegas.

David’s credits as a director include: PRINCESSES at The NAMT Festival, Goodspeed Musicals and The Fifth Avenue Theater in Seattle, THE BEST IS YET TO COME: THE MUSIC OF CY COLEMAN at The Rubicon Theater for which he won a 2010 Indy Award for his direction and Off Broadway at 59E59TH Theaters which won the 2012 Drama Desk Award for Best Musical Revue, Elaine Paige in concert at The American Songbook Series at Lincoln Center and THE GOODBYE GIRL at The Marriott Lincolnshire Theater. In 2013 he conceived and directed They’re Playing His Songs: The Music of Marvin Hamlisch.

He is currently a producer of Gerard Alessandrini’s hit off Broadway spoof SPAMILTON.

A graduate of Harvard Law School, David is delighted not to practice law.